William Cabell Rives

William Cabell Rives (4 May 1793-25 April 1868) was a member of the US House of Representatives (DR-VA 10) from 4 March 1823 to 1829 (succeeding Thomas L. Moore and preceding William F. Gordon), a US Senator from Virginia (D) from 10 December 1832 to 22 February 1834 (succeeding Littleton Waller Tazewell and preceding Benjamin W. Leigh) and from 4 March 1836 to 3 March 1839 (succeeding John Tyler and preceding Isaac S. Pennybacker), and a member of the Confederate Congress from Virginia's 7th district from 2 May 1864 to 2 March 1865 (succeeding James Philemon Holcombe).

Biography
William Cabell Rives was born in Amherst County, Virginia in 1793, and he studied law under Thomas Jefferson before becoming a lawyer in 1814. He served in the state legislature before serving in the US House of Representatives from 1823 to 1829, when he was appointed to serve as ambassador of France under President Andrew Jackson. He served from 1829 to 1833, and then returned to the US Congress, serving as a US Senator from 1832 to 1834, from 1836 to 1836, and from 1841 to 1845. From 1849 to 1853, he again served as ambassador to France. In 1860, he received most of Virginia's first ballot votes for President as the Constitutional Union Party candidate. Although he spoke out against secession, he went on to serve in the Confederate Congress during the American Civil War, and he died in 1868.